"Scream into the void until it screams back": Jodie Reid on new album "Absent Again Managing Me"

And South African musicianship

Covert for “Absent Again Managing Me” by Capetown-based artist Michael Smith.

Since 2019, singer-songwriter Jodie Reid has been prolifically putting out good music from South Africa — alternative rock in which she deftly strums guitar chords between thoughtful lyrics that often delve into long shots.

“Secondary Sight” (2019) is an excellent debut with unique lyrics flourishes particular to Reid; and after being a more varied “Celtic Commotion” (2020) than some casual listeners of anything Celtic will be familiar with, Reid’s “Robust Rebellion” (2021) evokes XTC with more leaps of unique imagery and turn of phrases (listen to back-to-back tracks “Burning” and “Bed Bugs” for a sample of the breadth). Then there’s “Echoes Exposed,” (2022) with highlights like “Solitary Confinement” and “Knots.”

Now, after the release of the radio version of song “Outside” last year, Reid recently emerged with “Absent Again Managing Me (AAMM).”

“‘Absent Again Managing Me’ was written as the finale to a series of albums that I promised myself I would release,” she told Chilltown Blues. “Combined, the titles of all albums spell ‘SSCCRREEAAMM’ which I found rather ironic – because screaming is far from what my voice was able to do when I released my first album in 2019."

“Artists and musicians in South Africa rarely get the credit they deserve since there are no existing regulations in place to assist them in making a reasonable living from their creations … It is far from ideal, but most — myself included — have learned to live with it and will continue to scream into the void until it screams back.” - Jodie Reid

Reid’s singing voice can lean adeptly in a few different directions. Over the course of those albums or various covers viewable on her YouTube channel and Instagram page, listeners will hear a voice that can be folksy or operatic or theatrical; and always the assured hands on the guitar strings. If it takes rerecording a whole album for a version she’s satisfied with, as she did here, so be it.